Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Justice For Caylee....?

Today, here in Florida, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murder in the 1st degree, aggravated child abuse and manslaughter involving a child. She was found guilty of 4 counts of providing a false statement to police, a crime that is punishable by up to 1 year in prison for each count. She will be sentenced on Thursday and, since she’s been in jail for three years already, could be set free on that day.

I must say I’m disappointed. I believe in my gut that Casey Anthony killed little Caylee, although I’m not convinced she did it intentionally. My theory is that Casey realized she could give her daughter chloroform to put her to sleep and then go out in the evenings without paying for a babysitter. One night either she overdid it, or Caylee had a severe reaction to the chloroform and she died. And, as in her “accidentally drowned” story, Caysey panicked and knew she was in trouble. So rather than come forward and face the music, she hid the child’s body in the trunk of her car until the smell got too bad, then moved her. I don’t know whether Cayley was originally placed in those woods or was moved there later. What I couldn’t figure out was the duct tape but I have recently developed a theory about that as well. I think poor little Caylee’s mouth was open in rigor mortis and someone, either Casey or another person who knew the truth, taped it shut.

I don’t think Casey killed Caylee intentionally. However, I believe Casey is an evil person who not only covered the truth but went on with her life as if nothing happened, then pulled her family members into the bizarre and troubling story in an attempt to keep herself out of prison. Oddly enough, I believe there may be some truth to Casey’s story about being abused by her father. I have no proof of that, other than what she has said and one incident in the closing arguments when one prosecutor, Linda Burkick, said something about George not being a monster and Casey said “Yes, he is.” I can’t imagine why she would make that verbal disagreement at that late stage of the trial unless there’s something there. And again, I’m going with my gut. The last time I went with my gut was when I told people Anthony Weiner was guilty of all the allegations made against him, before they were even all made public, and was told I was wrong and judgmental. Just a few days later Mr. Weiner admitted to everything and I was vindicated.

As for the trial and the jury’s decision – the prosecutors failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and the defense attorney raised enough doubt, however bizarre and over the top his methods were. He pointed out the failure of the prosecution to prove cause of death, lack of DNA or fingerprint evidence, and other shortcomings in the proceedings. And for that I must applaud him even if I could never be him. In our justice system he did what he was supposed to do – presumed his client innocent and got her an acquittal on at least the most serious charges. There is no doubt Casey lied to police on multiple occasions. If the jury had acquitted her of those charges as well the verdicts would have been obviously tainted.

I wanted Casey to be found guilty of at least one charge that would put her away for a long time. Any parent who can go out and party and be unconcerned about their child being missing (or dead, as in this case) has some serious problems and needs help. And every bit of circumstantial evidence points to Casey being guilty. Unfortunately, an overzealous prosecution team failed in their jobs. I’m reminded of a case in California years ago when another overzealous prosecution team failed to prove their case. Maybe, if we’re lucky, Casey will one day take someone prisoner at gunpoint during a botched robbery. One can hope…

About Me

I retired from Federal law enforcement in 2007 after 30 years of government service. I'm a conservative but not a Republican. And we have some problems here but the United States of America is still the greatest country in the world.